Winnpeg City, shades of beige

I mentioned it before in the blogs, Winnipeg had a distinct beige/tan/brown colouration. In fact, I ran out of raw umber, a dark chocolatey brown, and raw sienna, a sandy colour, on one of my two palettes. Lucky I fully loaded two palettes for the trip and had enough to get through. This scene shows the Oxford Hotel, on the right, with another distinct mid 19th century building on the left, which stretched all the way down the block. I posted this on location earlier. It was the second day in Winnipeg for me, and I was pleased to see a big blue sky and mostly clear sunny weather for the rest of the trip. 

Oxford Hotel, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

This scene had an impressive range of beige, ranging from a light cream off-white, to a tea-with-milk and caramel tones. It was a challenge to mix this colours, I used variations of raw sienna (PBr7), green umber (PBr7), burnt yellow ochre (PR102) and orange tints (PO62). 

Beige buildings, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

For some reason, this painting took me longer than usual, there were a lot of interlocking parts and perspectives to try and capture. I will just post the rest of the Winnipeg paintings in this blog, although I made a few cuts with paintings that did not quite work out the way I hoped. All in all it was a a surprisingly fruitful painting trip, surrounded by an Immunology Conference, or the other way around maybe! 

Brown buildings, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Another tricky painting to pull off, this is a small hot dog and hamburger stand on Main street near the train station. It had a closed porch area, and small serving counter inside. A lot of people came and went to the shop as I painted. Cars rumbled by on the right. 

VJ's Drive In, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

This building seemed to be abandoned, but maybe it was apartments. On the facade, it said 'The Winnipeg' printed in stone, so it must be mid 19th century, or early 20th century. Perhaps it was once a hotel, given its proximity to the train station, just a few blocks to the south. The lower part of the facade had a colourful pink mural with a fish. 

The Winnipeg, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Here is a close-up of the side of the Nutty Club candy factory, there is a panorama I posted earlier. In this version, I made the bricks look like little pink and yellow candies! The windows are also coloured differently to give the impression of candy. In real life, it was all cream-colour and shades of grey. 

Nutty Club close-up, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Portage is the main commercial drag of Winnipeg, the hockey arena, and many shops and restaurants are up and down the strip. Looking at it from this angle, there was a lot of traffic. Most people drove cars in Winnipeg, just a few pedestrians like me here and there. 

Portage Street traffic, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

A group of people with Iranian flags gathered here on the weekend as I painted the scene of the Oxford Hotel. So I did a quick scene of one of the flags in the foreground, with an ornate building in the background. 

Iranian Flag, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Another overpass sky-walk, with a Tim Horton's in the lower right, although I changed it to PJD 26. I didn't paint people much on this trip, preferring to stick with landscapes and cars, with the occasional goose. There are some silhouettes up in the sky-walk here, behind green-tinted glass. That's it for the Winnipeg blogs for now, I might write one up on my thoughts on the colour palette of Winnipeg which was rather interesting. 

Overpass and Tim Horton's, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Scenes from North part of Winnipeg

Venturing along Main street to the North part of Winnipeg, I found some very charismatic scenery including this cannabis store. A large group of people were congregated outside of the store, they seemed very agitated, or excited to be there. I took a photo of this scene on location, although the people had all moved on by then. You see in the sky, I made it like smoke coming off a cannabis joint. 

PJD POT 26, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Later on, I took a longer walk, along Isabel street from west to east. This scene was a typical row of mid-20th century houses, with the towering glass and brick sky-scrapers of downtown Winnipeg in the background. The houses had a lot of land around them, giant backyards, and enormous distances between houses along the road. Unlike Montreal, there are plots of grass and trees all over, although I saw development here and there, especially in China town, they were bulldozing old structures to be replaced with massive, higher density structures judging by the size of the foundations being built.  

Isabel street City View, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

A block from the last scene, and I found this bright blue-violet corner store with a canary-yellow house in the background, and a lime-green dumpster (typical of Winnipeg) stuck in the middle to the right. I had to paint it, even though it was a noisy, dusty street full of traffic. I didn't bother trying to make the angles too accurate, just to get the energy an feel of the scene onto paper. The blue was nearly pure indo blue (PB60). For the yellow I mixed benzi yellow (PY154), with orange (PO62) and green (PO36) and dabs of yellow ochre (PY43). That mix gets you a high-chorma 'baseball mustard' colour that plays well off the blue-violet. I was lucky in a way, I checked google maps, and just a few years ago, the buildings were boring beige here. 

Corner Stone Food Mart, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

It was time to turn back to the Hotel, but I wanted one more painting, and all I could see was a big lime dumpster with rust, and a Tim Horton's in the background. It seemed like, if you wanted to know what Isabel street was all about in North Winnipeg, this scene says it all! A little run down, but with everything needed to live, like donuts and coffee. The lime dumpster was done with bismuth yellow (PY184) and dabs of green (PG36), then over-painted with mixed of yellow ochre (PY43) and burnt yellow ochre (PR102). Burnt yellow ochre is actually the colour of rust red. A cubist-like composition adds to the feeling of chaos and immersion. I quite like this one, its the 'artist's choice' scene... PJD26 was scrawled on the dumpster in faux-spray paint. A fellow came out of the shop and dumped some trash in here, looking at me quizzically. 

Tim Hortons Lime dumpster, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

This one was posted earlier, I wanted to include it in this blog since it completes a story of my walks up in the North part of town. Its an ornately decorated marshal arts center, next to a group of community buildings. There were many indigenous people mulling about here, they seemed to be socializing and having fun on the street, living their lives. I was impressed with all the community services around the North, and did not see evidence of tent encampments or other tell-tale signs of homelessness that I see in Montreal. I think most people here have homes, and looked to be in good spirits.  

Ching Wu Athletic Association, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

Winnipeg night scenes, moon

I posted a few night scenes earlier, here is one just before the sun went down. Since the conference usually ended around 6 or 7 PM, it was still light out until about 8:30, then it got dark, so I could make paintings after the conference program ended. This one shows a local corner store that also sells cannabis, although I changed the word to WEED in the painting so it would fit. This is on York Street, a block south of the Hampton Hotel I was staying at. 

Convenience Citi Corner, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Since the sky was clear most nights I could see the moon, almost full, hanging over buildings like this pizza restaurant. Called Pizza Hotline, it seemed to be very popular, this is on Broadway street also near the hotel. I stood under lights, on the wide divider between the roads. I wasn't sure about safety in Winnipeg at night, very few locals were out and about, but some people were loitering so I had to keep an eye out.  This painting can go with Moon over Pizza 88, super moon over Atlas Pizza, and Moon over Donut Store.  

Moon over Pizza Hotline, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

I wasn't sure what this building was until I checked later on the map, its the Manitoba Legislative Building. Reminiscent of a Parisian building, it was illuminated in pale orange lights, and had a striking yellow shape on the spire.  

Manitoba Legislative Building, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Most of the large buildings downtown were connected with skywalks, pedestrian overpasses, that are no doubt intended for the winter. It also prevents crowds on the sidewalks. I wish Toronto would do this, its like dangerous walking around Toronto. Winnipeg however, was very walkable, and the traffic lights were well set, I never had to wait long to cross. Most people just walked across the street whenever there were no cars. 

Bus under overpass, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

This grand building is called The Metropolitan, or The Met for short. Its some kind of entertainment/conference center/hotel. The moon was nearly full against an inky blue night's sky. If I had more time in Winnipeg I would have revisited a few locations including this one. In real life, the colours were a soft coral and violet, with ornate architecture. But at least the painting gives a good feel for the scene. 

 Moon over The Met, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

Memorials and Monuments

Around the Human Rights Museum which I posted earlier, there are several memorial and monuments imbued with meaning. These crossing paths represent the Indigenous and First Nations people crossing paths with the Colonial people who came in and out of their lives, like the undulating path that crosses the straight path. I only knew this from reading a nearby plaque. The grass was a toasty orange-yellow with hints of green and yellow coming through. 

Crossing paths, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

The Peace Meeting site has a memorial to the victims and survivors of the residential school system. All of the accouterments were tones of black and dark brown, like the angled-brick wall, tiles, rocks, spherical pots, and benches. Even the garbage can was shiny black, which is different than all the other bins which were bright blue. The trees were preserved, you see one poking through a small patch of grass. 

Peace meeting site, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

A large patch of grasslands, maybe an acre, was preserved next to the Museum, thanks to a generous donor. More of the toasty yellow grass was punctuated by some green and brown. The walking path was packed gravel, the colour of raw sienna. I was surprised with the colour register of Winnipeg, that caramel-tint was everywhere, coming from the sandy earth. 

Grasslands, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

Here is a view of the side entrance to the Museum of Human Rights, like the entrance to an Egyptian pyramid, but with tinted glass overhead. I did the tinted glass with perylene green (PBk31), dark blue (PB60), and carbon black (PBk6). 

Side entrance Museum, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

Trains and bridges Winnipeg

Along with the rivers, trains and bridges are prominent in Winnipeg, there were freight and commuter trains passing frequently. Elevated train tracks ran through the downtown area, which created some neat perspectives. This scene was close to the Human Rights Museum, a long line of oil cars were sitting up on the track with an orange CN engine. An orange light pole helped anchor the composition. That colour transition on the train cars is done with dilute blue, probably a mix of indo blue (PB60) and phthalo blue (PB15), then a pale mix of carbon black (PBk6) with perylene maroon (PR179), with more black on the bottom shadow. Bismuth yellow (PY184) facilitated the over-painting on the train cars, with simple curved lines to give shape. 

Oil cars orange pole, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

Early in the morning on the last day of my trip, I had a few hours before the plane departure. This scene shows a double-decker train waiting on the bridge, with some apartments illuminated in the background. The key to creating a glowing atmosphere is the sky, it was made to be a middle grey by mixing blue and violet, with touches of earth yellow. 

Double decker profile view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

This train bridge farther to the east on Red River is an old iron bridge reminiscent of those seen in Montreal. A local talked to me a bit when I painted this, he was not very happy about tourists showing up in town and seemed rather grumpy. Fair enough, its his city, and I usually feel somewhat similar when Old Montreal gets over-run with tourists! 

Rusty train bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

Here is a wall of rust, with rust on top. Its an old rusty train car parked on a rusty train bridge. Painted green initially, now the iron is permeated with a range of earth colours. The rust was done with variations of yellow ochre (PY43), burnt yellow ochre (PR102), burnt umber (PBr7), and splashes of orange (PO62 and PO73). The pale green is dilute perylene green (PBk31).

Rusty rust train and bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

Not a train bridge, this is a car and pedestrian bridge with a cool shape, and fresh green paint. Yellow and orange stripes are on the support, they are probably there as river warnings... you can see the graffiti at the base is submerged. Any higher and the river banks would burst. 

Bridge stripes, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

More double decker train cars rumbled through town, this scene was close to the Nutty Club candy buildings. Some graffiti on the wall was changed to my initials and year PJD 26. I'm getting better at simulating spray-paint with watercolours. 

Double decker curved view, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026

 

Habs game 6 action, outside Bell Center

It was total mayhem downtown in Montreal tonight outside of the Bell Center where the Montreal Canadiens (nicknamed the Habs) were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 6 of the series. I found a spot outside of the McDonald's with good light, and a spot to nestle my bike in without getting over run by fans. A cop car sat there blocking the main road to the arena, which was just for fans and a big screen outside. The Habs colours are blue white and red (bleu, blanc, rouge) and the McDonald's was yellow (Jaune). The cop car was also red white and blue which is kind of neat. I liked the sky which was just on the verge of night time, I did it with indo blue (PB60), phthalo blue on the horizon (PB15), and a streak of pyrol orange (PO73) with indo blue at the very top. 

Bleu blanc rouge (et jaune), watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2026

Here was the scene looking towards the arena (which is on the right, unseen in the painting). A large crowd was cheering loudly, and I could hear the massive crowd inside of the arena, and hear the whistles from the ref and the announcer call, and the sound of the sticks and pucks though loudspeakers. Waves of cheering kept going, although I could not see the score, only the back of the screen. Incidentally it was 0 - 0 the whole game, and Tampa scored in overtime to take it to a game 7 in Tampa. 

Bell Center big screen, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

This was the first painting I did, after approaching the scene along the st Jacques bike path. A cop car blocked the road here too, and there were cruisers parked all over. The Bell Center is seen up in the background, with the Bonaventure station ramp going over to the upper left. Another watercolour painter stopped and talked to me, she had her paint kit with her, and we will follow each-other on Instagram, that was kind of neat. I made the traffic lights on the left red, blue and white to go with the theme. 

Bell Center game 6 Montagne street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

Red river and Assiniboine river, Fork

Assiniboine river is a tributary of the Red River, they meet at a fork in the center of Winnipeg, in fact, these rivers were a main reason Winnipeg formed as a city to begin with. Assiniboine is the name of a First Nations peoples of the northern Great Plains, while Red River might have something to do with its colour, there was a silty iron-oxide look to it. This painting shows two geese taking off from the Red River, from the vantage point of The Forks, a National park that has been a meeting ground for over 6000 years. Geese were honking the whole time I painted along the rivers, and I had to watch where I was stepping! 

Geese flycing over Red River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Here I was standing in South Point park, it is a triangle of land where the Assiniboine and Red rivers meet... the former is on the left, the latter on the right. A giant tree with many trunks anchored itself exactly on the point, it was a stony ground with packed earth. 

Forks point tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Standing on the same spot, looking upstream along Red River, there was a view of the Norwood bridge, part of the Trans Canada highway. The trees in Winnipeg were interesting, medium sized with very chaotic, zig zag branches. There were no leaves out yet, barely a hint of green. When I got back to Montreal, things were turning green. 

Norwood Bridge Red River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Still in the same location, I did a painting of the support structure of a footbridge that crosses from Point park to the Forks park across the Assiniboine river. Some colourful graffiti adorned the stones, although I changed it to be my initials and year. The bridge was closed however, I guess they open it more in tourist season. It was early morning for these paintings, so you can see the morning glow and shadows. 

Graff under bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

This is the first painting I did on the Winnipeg trip early in the morning, I caught a view of the sun coming through some light cloud cover through trees. I was standing along the embankment of the Assiniboine river, so the south Point Park is across the way. In the foreground, you see a walking path descending into water, the whole pathway along the shore was flooded out, and several staircases went down into water. The city had blocked off such paths until waters recede. 

Assiniboine overflow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Further downstream is the Forks historic port, now a tourist 'trap', there were restaurants and souvenir shops here, I bought a few items. A small beach was at the river-side, with thick mud covering the lowest tier. Birds' footprints were all along the mud, to which I added my initials in the painting (not in real life). The base of a train bridge can be seen in the background. I did a lot of paintings of trains, I will post in a separate blog. In fact, I did 45 paintings in total in Winnipeg, so a few more blogs to go! 

Mud beach bird prints, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

The furthest point I reached downstream on the Red River, here you see the first major bend of the river to the right (south), after which it turns sharply back to the north. It was getting late here and the weather cooling off. A few geese swam near the shore. It was very peaceful.

Red River bend, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026